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W.D. Ehrhart
William Daniel Ehrhart (born September 30, 1948) is an American poet, writer, academic, and Vietnam War veteran. Life Overview Ehrhart has been called "the dean of Vietnam war poetry." Donald Anderson, editor of War, Literature & the Arts, said Ehrhart’s Vietnam-Perkasie: A combat Marine memoir, is "the best single, unadorned, gut-felt telling of one American’s route into and out of America’s longest war." Ehrhart has been an active member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War.Donald Anderson, "Vietnam and Korea: W.D. Ehrhart's continuing journey," War, Literature, and the Arts, Fall/Winter 1999. Web, Sep. 21, 2015. Youth and education Ehrhart was born in Roaring Spring, Pennsylvania, the third of four sons. He grew up in Perkasie, Pennyslvania, where his father was a minister.W.D. Ehrhart biography, eNotes. Web, Sep. 20, 2015. He began writing when he was 15 years old, and has been writing more or less continuously ever since. At 17, immediately upon graduating High School in June 1966, Ehrhart joined the United States Marine Corps. He served 3 years, including 13 months in Vietnam. An Infantry Sergeant, he was awarded the Purple Heart for injuries he received while fighting in Hue City. Career He subsequently earned bachelor's and master's degrees, and (at the age of 52) a doctorate. Over the years, he has held a wide variety of jobs, from merchant seaman to newspaper reporter to high school teacher. He teaches at The Haverford School.http://www.todayinliterature.com/contributors/w.d.ehrhart.asp His 1st published work, a poem about Swarthmore College, appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education, and the following year 8 of his poems were included in Winning Hearts and Minds: War poems by Vietnam veterans. Exclusively a poet until he was almost 30, he has since written and published a wide variety of non-fiction prose, from 400-word newspaper commentaries to 40-page scholarly essays to 400-page personal narratives. Writing The influence of Ehrhart's encounter with the Vietnam War can readily be seen in his writing, but though he is known primarily as a "Vietnam War poet," in fact his subject matter ranges widely. He has written essays and articles on such topics as radio disc jockeys, tugboats on the Delaware River, the Internal Revenue Service, and a variety of modern and contemporary poets including William Wantling to Daniel Hoffman. His wife and daughter are major sources of inspiration for his poetry. His poems also reflect his respect for nature, his love of friends, his active engagement with the world around him, and his consternation at the human condition. Recognition He was awarded a 1993 Pew Fellowships in the Arts. Publications Poetry *''A Generation of Peace: Poems''. New York: New Voices, 1975. **revised, San Jose, CA: Samisdat, 1977. *''Rootless''. San Jose, CA: Samisdat, 1977. *''Empire''. Richford, VT: Samisdat, 1978. *''The Samisdat Poems''. Richford, VT: Samisdat, 1980. *''The Awkward Silence: Poems''. Stafford, VA: Northwoods Press, 1980. *''Matters of the Heart''. Easthampton, MA: Adastra Press, 1981. * Channel Fever. Port Jefferson, NY: Backstreet Editions, 1982. *''The Outer Banks, and other poems''. Easthampton, MA: Adastra Press, 1984. *''To Those Who Have Gone Home Tired: New and selected poems''. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 1984. *''Winter Bells''. Easthampton, MA: Adastra Press, 1988. *''Just for Laughs: Poems''. Silver Spring, MD: Vietnam Generation / Burning Cities Press, 1990. *''The Distance We Travel''. Easthampton, MA: Adastra Press, 1993. *''Starting Over''. Richmond, MA: Mad River, 1993. *''Mostly Nothing Happens''. Easthampton, MA: Adastra Press, 1996. *''Beautiful Wreckage: New and selected poems''. Easthampton, MA: Adastra Press, 1999. *''Greatest Hits, 1970-2000''. Johnstown, OH: Puddinghouse Press, 2001. *''On the Eve of Destruction''. Andover, MA: The Acre, 2001. *''A Sort of Peace: Echoes and images of the Vietnam war: Poems'' (with photos by Don Fox). Fox Photo Arts, 2005. *''Sleeping with the Dead''. Easthampton, MA: Adastra Press, 2006. *''The Bodies Beneath the Table''. Easthampton, MA: Adastra Press, 2010. Non-fiction *''Vietnam-Perkasie: A combat marine memoir''. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1983. *''Marking Time''. New York: Avon Books, 1986. *''Going Back: An ex-Marine returns to Vietnam''. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1987; **also published as Going Back: A poet who was once a Marine returns to Vietnam. Wallingford, PA: Pendle Hill, 1987. *''Passing Time: Memoir of a Vietnam veteran against the war''. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1989. *''In the Shadow of Vietnam: Essays, 1977-1991''. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1991. *''Busted: A Vietnam veteran in Nixon's America''. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1995. *''Ordinary Lives: Platoon 1005 and the Vietnam war''. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1999. *''The Madness of It All: Essays on war, literature, and American life''. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2002. *''Dead on a High Hill: Essays on war, literature, and living, 2002-2012''. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland, 2012. Edited *''Demilitarized Zones: Veterans After Vietnam'' (edited with Jan Barry). Perkassie, PA: East River Anthology, 1976. *''Unaccustomed Mercy: Soldier-poets of the Vietnam war''. Lubbock, TX: Texas Tech University Press, 1989. *''Carrying the Darkness: Poetry of the Vietnam war''. Lubbock, TX: Texas Tech University Press, 1989. *''Retrieving Bones: Stories and poems of the Korean war'' (edited with Philip K. Jason). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1999. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:W D Ehrhart, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Sep. 20, 2015. See also * List of U.S. poets References External links ;Poems *"Simple Sonnet on Terrorism" *W.D. Ehrhart 2 poems at Poetry Out Loud * W.D. Ehrhart b. 1948 at the Poetry Foundation * W.D. Ehrhart - Poems. ;Audio / video *W.D. Ehrhart at YouTube ;Books *W.D. Ehrhart at Amazon.com ;About *W.D. Ehrhart at Discover War Poets * W.D. Ehrhart biography at eNotes *W.D. Ehrhart Official website. *"Vietnam and Korea: W.D. Ehrhart's continuing journey" in War, Literature, and the Arts *The Awkward Silence reviewed at Ethershop ;Etc. *Vietnam Veterans Against War Category:1948 births Category:Living people Category:American essayists Category:American memoirists Category:American military personnel of the Vietnam War Category:American military writers Category:American poets Category:Pew Fellows in the Arts Category:Recipients of the Purple Heart medal Category:20th-century poets Category:21st-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:War poets